Archive for the Donnie Yen Category

As if the film gods answered my prayers, an adaptation of one of, If not my favorite game of the PS3/Xbox era, and was a perfect homage to Chinese action cinema, particularly martial arts films, wrapped in a great story of Triads and cops. Donnie Yen is perfect, and if the film can somehow get Max Zhang (IP Man 3) to play the baddie things would be perfect! My only fear here is that Yen already paid homage to kung-fu films with Kung Fu Killer, so I’m not sure an American production can top that. That and we all know about video game adaptations and how they often fail, even though the game story is already tailor made for a movie. My excitement meter is definitely up. Only Donnie is attached t the moment. Let’s hope they pick the right director. Anyone associated with John Wick 1 and 2 would do nicely. I want my Donnie Yen vs Daniel Bernhardt fight. Make it happen, movie gods.

Yeah. Yeah. Yes! When it comes to martial arts films, no one is putting out Blu-Rays on the same level of quality that WellGoUSA does. The love they have for martial arts films can be seen in the quality they put into every disc release. Below are the ones you’ll want, but let’s start with the best of the bunch:

Damn Right! If you haven’t seen Ip Man, you need to get this set. If you are curious about martial arts films but haven’t really watched one, you need to get this set. If you own the DVD versions, you need to get this set. If you have never heard of Donnie Yen but thought he was cool in Star Wars: Rogue One, you need to get this set. This is THE gold standard of martial arts films, a gateway drug if you will to a wonderful world, and some of the best modern martial arts films in existence. Donnie Yen truly takes his place next to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li with this series. Here are the extras and details (click on the title to go to my review of the film itself):

Wing Chun grandmaster Ip (Donnie Yen) cements his reputation after defeating a roving band of kung fu masters who have come to his village to challenge him and the other marshal arts masters. But his devotion to the martial arts results in tension and discontent with his wife. When the Japanese occupy his hometown of Foshan during the Sino-Japan war (1937), Ip is forced to work as a coolie in a factory and participate in brutal sparring matches for the enemy’s amusement. He demonstrates his superior fighting skills by defeating his opponents despite being heavily outnumbered and wins the admiration of the Japanese Colonel, Mr. Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), who challenges Ip to a championship fight. The outcome of the match inspires the Chinese villagers to rise up and defeat their oppressors.

Master Ip (Donnie Yen), a new arrival in British-occupied Hong Kong, wants to open a martial arts academy to teach his unique Wing Chun style. A corrupt group of martial arts masters, led by Master Hung (Sammo Hung) refuses to allow him to teach in peace until he proves himself as a kung fu master. Ip’s trouble continues when he is forced to enter a brutal “King of the Ring” boxing match against Twister (Darren Shahlavi), a Western-style boxer who insults the Chinese locals, in a East versus West knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish.

Donnie Yen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2) ignites the screen in a return to the role that made him an icon – as Ip Man, the real-life Wing Chun grandmaster who mentored Bruce Lee. In this explosive third installment of the blockbuster martial arts series, when a band of brutal gangsters led by a crooked property developer (Mike Tyson) make a play to take over the city, Master Ip is forced to take a stand. Fists will fly as some of the most incredible fight scenes ever filmed play out on the big screen in this soon-to-be genre classic.

Starring: Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Mike Tyson, Sammo Hung

Price: Blu-Ray: $34.98, DVD: $24.98

Yes, it’s offered in DVD format, but trust me, you really want the crystal clear Blu-Ray version. The colors just pop, and the extras are just mind-blowing, particularly the bonus DVD disk with interviews of Donnie Yen, Mike Tyson, Max Zhang, and more. I wish it had been a Blu-Ray disc as well, but that’s a minor nitpick. This is martial arts set to buy this season, bar none.

Now, the best of the rest. These are my personal favs, and you can’t go wrong with ANY of them. Stocking Stuffers indeed:

Kung Fu Killer

Staying with the Donnie Yen theme, this film is a complete love letter to all things kung fu films, paying respects to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Golden Harvest, King Hu, and Shaw Brothers cinema and the game changers they’ve been to martial arts cinema. A fun film with great fight scenes. One of Yen’s best. You can read my review here.

Killzone 2

After a few setbacks, Killzone 2 finds Tony Jaa and Wu Jing back in top form. Bring in the great Max Zhang (Ip Man 3) and you have a fun filled movie with great fights, but more optimistic than the original. A great film and one of Jaa’s best. You can read my review here.

One of my all-time favorites. The knife fight at the end is a thing of legend, and the rest of the action is incredible. A great story follow the relationship between a little girl and a retired hitman. If you’ve never seen this film, get ready for a fantastic experience. If you have, buy it on Blu and watch it again! My review is right here.

WellGOUSA has many, many more quality films. I’ve reviewed many of the martial arts ones, but they have much, much more than just that. Please go to their website and look around, and order something! You won’t be disappointed! www.wellgousa.com

Donnie Yen has recently stated that he is basically retiring from film, that he’s said all he wants to say in regards to martial arts. After seeing Kung Fu Killer, I was inclined to agree. Now that I’ve seen Ip Man 3, it’s a certainty (of course before he retires we get Donnie Yen….IN SPACE! ). It’s customary for the third film of a series to be inferior to the two films that preceded it. There are only a few examples of films whose third film was the equal or better than its predecessors, and Ip Man 3 is one of those films, but I was surprised as to the reason why.

Donnie Yen returns as Ip Man, many years after the events of Ip Man 2, and Ip Man is once again prosperous in 1960’s Hong Kong. His Wing Chun school is thriving, he is well-respected in the community, basically placing him back in the position he was in before the events of the first Ip Man took it all away. Hong Kong also seems like its doing well, but it’s not. There are too few police to handle the growing numbers of people. and crime is running rampant. Fatso (Cheng) tries to keep order, but finds himself once again under the command of a corrupt British commander, who takes his orders from Frank (Tyson) a ruthless property owner who now targets the school Ip Man’s son attends as his next conquest. Ip Man finds himself defending the school from Frank’s goons, while navigating a rickshaw driver (Zhang) who may be as skilled in Wing Chun as Ip Man and looks to start his own school, and Ip Man’s wife Cheung Wing-Sing gets devastating news that will alter their lives forever.

The film is a triumph by Wilson Yip, and the story feels like an organic continuation of the series. The film never forgets the events of the previous films, and does quite a few call backs. Ip Man vs. Ten Men? Sure. To the bad guys, the events of the first Ip Man are nothing more than legend. Surely Ip Man never fought and beat ten black belts? The film even begins how the second film ended: with an adult Bruce Lee looking to train under Ip Man. The film does a great job of resolving Bruce Lee without actually telling that side of the story. Donnie Yen once again does a great job as Ip Man, and his acting has improved, which is needed to as there are quite a few emotional scenes for him. Mike Tyson is adequate as the bad guy Frank, but thankfully you won’t see him very much. Better served is Max Zhang as the rickshaw driver Cheung Tin-chi. He’s a driven, conflicted man, coming from nothing but has the will to achieve his goals no matter what, and the problem with that is he’s a good man who may have to do bad things in order to achieve his dreams, and Ip Man is the final obstacle standing in his way.

The surprise of the film was Lynn Hung as Cheung Wing-sing. Her story arc drives the final half of the film, and she is excellent. I never really warmed to her character through the first two films, as I never understood how she is always upset when Ip Man either fights or studies his arts, even though those very things have provided her with her lifestyle, and has represented China countless times. This time her story arc recognizes her contradictions, and brings her character full circle by the end of the film as she realizes that Ip Man doesn’t just study Wing Chun, Ip Man IS Wing Chun, as much as the sky is blue and water is wet.

I had thought that Yuen Woo Ping was losing his skills as a fight choreographer, but nope. He’s at his best here, and the fight scenes are plentiful and all of them are excellent. From the Ip Man vs Ten men fight, with a new wrinkle put in, the massive battles with what appears to be Ip Man fighting half of China, to his duel with Mike Tyson, and the bring-down-the-house finale versus Max Zhang in a Wing Chun vs. Wing Chun fight for the ages. Every fight is imaginative, bone-crunching, fast-paced affairs that really outdo the previous films, and that’s not even mentioning the terrific Wing Chun vs Muay Thai elevator fight between Donnie Yen and Sarut Khanwilai. Really, the weakest fight was Donnie Yen vs Mike Tyson, in that is was short, and Ip Man already faced this kind of fight with Twister (the late great Darren Shahlavi).

The only thing missing from this film was the late Fung Hak-on as the best friend of Master Law (Lo Meng).

Kiai-Kick’s Grade: 10

Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip bring the Ip Man trilogy to a satisfying conclusion, culminating in one of the best one on one fights in recent memory. Kung Fu cinema fans, it simply doesn’t get better than this!

It’s been a long while since I’ve done a giveaway, but here we are! I’ve got two, I say two, copies of Donnie Yen’s Kung Fu Killer (aka Kung Fu Jungle) to give away thanks to the good folks at WellGOUSA! Now how good was this film? Suffice to say it was damn good. You can read my review here!

Ah, but now you ask “So what do I have to do to score a copy?” Easy peasy. First, go and, if you haven’t already, like the Kiai Kick Facebook page which you can find here.

Next, I wanna know what’s your favorite Donnie Yen film and why! Get creative, and post your answer to the facebook page and the top two posts gets a copy of this action packed piece of awesomeness! The third best? Weeelll, I’ll dig into my bag of Kiai-Kick goodies and reward you with another blu-ray film! I will announce the winners on the facebook page July 21st, the date of the film’s release on DVD and Blu Ray! Sorry, but this contest is for North American readers only!

The rules and regulations can be found after the pic!

Rules And Regulations: Everyone entering the giveaway must be at least eighteen years of age and a legal resident of the United States. To qualify, participants must post before July 17th at 7 PM CST. Kiai-Kick reserves the right to disqualify any participant for any reason. Kiai Kick is not responsible for any problems with shipping or any communication failures that may occur after the winner is chosen. If the winner does not respond with their information within the designated window, another winner will be chosen.

Let me start by saying this: Kung Fu Jungle is the best film Donnie Yen has made since any film not named Ip Man and Flashpoint.Donnie Yen’s output since Ip Man 2 has been a bit underwhelming, but he fires back on all cylinders with this film. A second/third wind to his career? I think this film may be part of the reason he’s on the verge of retirement, and I’ll elaborate my theory on this later in the review.

The film starts as we meet Hahao Mo (Yen) a kung fu master and sometimes police martial arts trainer. He is bloody, and has just been in a fight to prove how good he is, but wound up killing his opponent (Logan) and turns himself into the police. Three years later, Detective Luk Yuen-Sum (Yeung) finds herself on a case involving serial killer Fung Yu-Sau (Wang) who is targeting kung fu masters across the city. Hahao Mo is released early from prison in order to help the police track down this killer, but Hahao knows more than he lets on, and the police increasingly wonder if they can actually trust him, but the bodies left in Fung’s wake start to pile up…

Kung Fu Jungle is a fantastic action film, and more than that its Donnie Yen and Teddy Chan’s love letter to all the kung fu films that inspired them. Just look at the starring credits above. Jackie Chan is onscreen as Hahao is watching Drunken Master in one scene. In fact, he’s specifically watching the scene where JC goes through the form, one of the best scenes of its kind ever filmed. Then you get to Shaw Brothers favorite David Chiang in a cameo appearance, and then, Raymond Chow appears! The list goes on and on, and I’m sure I missed someone. In fact, the only criticism I have is that some folks were left out. Where was the Greatness (Gordon Liu), and where was Sammo Hung? Jet Li? I suppose in Jet’s case he’s more a contemporary for Yen, so there could be that.

As for the story itself, and this is the genius of the film, is that it’s an homage to dozens ofold school kung fu films where a great kung fu master travels around fighting different schools and killing their masters for the sole purpose of being the best. Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow, Knockabout, Prodigal Son, and so many dozens more have used this same story conceit, and director Teddy Chan brings that same story to the modern day successfully. Donnie Yen is excellent as Hahao, a man who had paid the price and damaged his own soul trying to be the best. Baoqiang is equally good as the killer, whose reasons go beyond just wanting to be the greatest of all. Charlie Yeung also does a great job here, but I kinda think this film missed out in respect to her casting, and I thought Michelle Yeoh may have been the better play here, given the spirit of the movie, but Michelle Bai does the spirit of female action heroes well as Haoho’s love interest, Sinn Ying, and she proves to give Baoqiang a greater challenge than he suspects.

Louis Fan and Xing Yu are in the film more as extended cameos, and while I enjoyed their presence, I had wished they would have appeared in the film longer.

The fights here are some of the best choreographed fights Yen has put out in some time. The first fight in the prison is terrific, as are all of the fights Baoqiang gets into with his various opponents, but the climactic battle on a busy street between Yen and Baoqiang is truly great and hard hitting, with fantastic movement and speed. THIS is the Donnie Yen of SPL and Flashpoint that had been missing for a little while.

I said that this film may be contributing to Donnie Yen retiring. I say that because Donnie recently stated that he really has nothing more to say on camera regarding kung fu films. This film expresses his love for the genre and the career its given him as he pays his respects to those that came before him. After Ip Man 3 and this, I’m of the mind that he may be right. His filmography spans just about every type of martial arts film, and I’m not sure there anything else he can make that would be cool without simply spinning his wheels.

Kiai-Kick’s Grade: 9

Kung Fu Jungle (called Kung Fu Killer by WellGOUSA) is a great piece of entertainment that shows Donnie Yen at his absolute best and writes a thrilling love letter to all martial arts films! You do NOT want to miss this!

Kung Fu Killer will be out in North America tomorrow in select theaters!

Ah, those great folks at WellGoUSA have graced us with yet another piece of awesomeness! My friends, Donnie Yen is back with a Vengeance! (That’s right, with a capital V!) The fights here look refreshingly old school, and looks to put Donnie back on top after a few lackluster past couple of films (all still enjoyable, though!) Here’s the synopsis:

A vicious serial killer is targeting top martial arts masters, and convicted criminal and kung-fu master Hahou (Donnie Yen) is the only one with the skills to stop him. Released from jail and into police custody, they soon have their doubts about Hahou’s true allegiance after a series of mysterious events. Hunted by an unstoppable killer (Wang Baoqiang) and the entire police force, Hahou finds himself on his own, leading to a final battle you have to see to believe in this action-packed, kung fu crime thriller from director Teddy Chen (Bodyguards & Assassins, The Accidental Spy).

I don’t see much in the way of wirework, and this looks like something closer to Flashpoint than anything else, and that my friends, is a good thing. The story kind of reminds me in spirit to the film Bloodmoon, and that is also a good thing. The fight in the streets look particularly great! Teddy Chen is a good director, whose stories seem to take a more somber finale, and that may work really well here. Check out the trailer below, and get ready for April 24th! I may have a surprise or two before then that I think readers of this site are really gonna love…